Singapore is fast-tracking PayNow for businesses to modernise payments, cut cheque use and streamline account-to-account transfers, evolving the service from consumer tool to core SME infrastructure.
PayNow was originally designed for person-to-person payments using mobile numbers and national identifiers. Its corporate extension changes the nature of the scheme by enabling businesses to send and receive payments through unique entity numbers.
This eliminates reliance on manual bank transfers and cheques. For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), PayNow Corporate delivers faster settlement, lower transaction costs and simpler payment initiation. For larger firms, it provides an efficient rail for low- to mid-value domestic payments that were previously more complex to execute.
National payments strategy drives corporate adoption Efficiency, interoperability and resilience underpin Singapore’s payments strategy. With PayNow already proven at the consumer level, extending the platform to business payments is a natural progression.
Adoption is being driven by several factors, including continued cheque usage in some sectors, the reconciliation burden on SMEs, rising demand for faster settlement with better cash-flow visibility and government programmes supporting business digitalisation. Corporate usage reshapes bank operations For banks, PayNow Corporate represents more than higher volumes. Business payments introduce greater transaction values, more complex reconciliation requirements and a broader range of fraud risks than consumer transfers. Key operational priorities include strengthening corporate onboarding and entity verification, applying appropriate velocity controls and transaction limits, deploying real-time fraud detection for authorised push payment scams and ensuring seamless integration with accounting and treasury systems. PayNow Corporate changes business payment economics
Figure 1. PayNow Corporate versus traditional business payment methods
| Area | Traditional business payments | PayNow Corporate payments |
|---|---|---|
| Settlement speed | Same day or next day | Near real-time |
| Payment initiation | Manual entry, file uploads | Direct account-to-account |
| Reconciliation | Manual matching | Automated with references |
| Cost structure | Higher processing costs | Lower domestic transfer costs |
| Fraud exposure | Lower frequency, slower | Higher speed, requires controls |
| Cash-flow visibility | Delayed | Immediate |
Source: BankQuality
Uneven adoption highlights integration challenges
Despite clear benefits, adoption remains uneven. Some businesses remain cautious due to transaction limits, internal control requirements or unfamiliarity with instant payments in corporate settings.
As usage scales, banks and businesses must support higher approval volumes, maintain secure audit trails for compliance, manage erroneous or misdirected transfers effectively and integrate PayNow into existing finance and Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.
Fraud risk rises with payment speed
Fraud patterns evolve as PayNow Corporate volumes grow. Social engineering and invoice manipulation are particularly effective in instant payment environments where settlement is irreversible.
Banks increasingly deploy confirmation steps for new payees, behavioural monitoring to detect abnormal payment patterns, cooling-off periods for first-time transactions and clear escalation paths when potential fraud is identified. PayNow Corporate reshapes Singapore’s payment landscape
PayNow Corporate is steadily transforming how businesses move money domestically. It reduces friction in routine transactions while increasing banks’ responsibility for real-time risk management.
The scheme will not replace all business payment rails. High-value, cross-border and complex treasury flows will continue to rely on alternative systems. However, PayNow Corporate is becoming the default option for everyday domestic payments rather than a secondary alternative.
Banks that invest in strong controls, clean system integration and clear customer guidance are best positioned to scale PayNow Corporate adoption without increasing operational risk.